Printing apparatus, printing material cartridge, printing material container adapter, cartridge set, and adapter set

ABSTRACT

A printing apparatus includes: a holder in which a printing material cartridge set is mounted; and a mounting detection circuit for detecting mounted states of printing material cartridges in the holder. Each of the N printing material cartridges includes a storage device for storing information regarding a printing material which is contained, an electric device for mounting detection, a terminal for the storage device, and a terminal for the electric device. The electric devices of the N printing material cartridges are configured so that a detection voltage becomes equal to or greater than a threshold voltage set in advance when the N printing material cartridges are all mounted in the holder.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printingmaterial cartridge used in the printing apparatus, and an adapter for acartridge.

2. Related Art

Recently, as a printing material cartridge, a cartridge in which astorage device that stores information regarding a printing material(for example, a remaining ink amount) is mounted has been used. Inaddition, a technique for performing mounting detection on a printingmaterial cartridge has been used. For example, in JP-A-2005-119228, aCPU of a printing apparatus detects whether or not an ink cartridge ismounted by communicating with a storage device of the ink cartridge.

However, in the technique of JP-A-2005-119228, when a user is to performmounting detection while performing an operation of replacing the inkcartridge, there is a need of detaching the ink cartridge while the inkcartridge is electrically connected to the storage device of thecartridge. In this case, since hot swapping of the storage device isperformed, a semiconductor element in the storage device is stressed bythe hot swapping, and thus there is a possibility of a bit erroroccurring. On the other hand, when the CPU is caused not to access thestorage device of the cartridge during the operation of replacing theink cartridge in order to prevent such a bit error, there are problemsin that which cartridge is not mounted cannot be displayed on a displaypanel or the like of the printing apparatus to notify a user during thereplacing operation and thus a convenience of the user is significantlydegraded.

In addition, as a technique of mounting detection of an ink cartridge, atechnique described in JP-A-3-284953 is also known. In the technique ofJP-A-3-284953, a mounting detection circuit of a printing apparatusdetermines whether or not an ink cartridge is mounted by detecting avoltage which is changed according to an ink resistance value in the inkcartridge. However, in this technique, there is a problem in that inorder to detect whether or not individual cartridges from among aplurality of ink cartridges are mounted, wiring lines for the mountingdetection have to be individually installed between the respectivecartridges and mounting detection circuits of the printing apparatus.

In addition, the above-described problem is not limited to inkcartridges and the same problem occurs in a printing material cartridgein which a different kind of printing material (for example, toner) isaccommodated.

SUMMARY

An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a techniquecapable of performing mounting detection of a printing materialcartridge by a different means from that according to a related art.

The invention can be realized as the following embodiments orapplications.

Application 1

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a printingapparatus including: a holder in which a cartridge set is mounted, thecartridge set including N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2)printing material cartridges which can be independently mounted; and amounting detection circuit for detecting mounted states of the printingmaterial cartridges in the holder, wherein each of the N printingmaterial cartridges includes a storage device for storing informationregarding a printing material which is contained, an electric device formounting detection which is connected in parallel with the mountingdetection circuit, a terminal for the storage device, and a terminal forthe electric device, and the electric devices of the N printing materialcartridges are configured so that a detection voltage detected by themounting detection circuit becomes equal to or greater than a thresholdvoltage set in advance when the N printing material cartridges are allmounted in the holder.

According to the printing apparatus, the detection voltage is determineddepending on the mounted state of the electric device for mountingdetection which is separately provided from the storage device, and thedetection voltage becomes equal to or greater than the threshold voltageset in advance when the N printing material cartridges are all mountedin the holder, so that it is possible to determine whether or not theprinting material cartridges are properly mounted in the holder. Inaddition, during the mounting detection of the printing materialcartridges, there is no need for concern about a bit error due to hotswapping of the storage device.

Application 2

In the printing apparatus according to Application 1, the electricdevices of the N printing material cartridges may be configured so thatthe detection voltage has a voltage value capable of uniquelyidentifying 2^(N) kinds of mounted states regarding the N printingmaterial cartridges, and the mounting detection circuit may determinethe mounted states of the printing material cartridges in the holder onthe basis of the detection voltage.

In this configuration, the detection voltage has a voltage value that isdetermined depending on the 2^(N) kinds of mounted states and can beuniquely identified, so that it is possible to determine which of the2^(N) kinds of mounted states is the mounted state of the printingmaterial cartridge in the holder, using the detection voltage.

Application 3

In the printing apparatus according to Application 2, the electricdevice of the n-th (n=1 to N) printing material cartridge from among theN printing material cartridges may be a resistive element having aresistance value in a range of 2^(n)R(1±ε) where R is a constant valueand an allowable error ε is 1/{4(2^(N−1)−1)}.

In this configuration, even when there is an error in the individualresistance value in an allowable range, it is possible to identify the2^(N) kinds of mounted state using the detection voltage.

Application 4

In the printing apparatus according to any one of Applications 1 to 3,to the terminals for the electric devices of the N printing materialcartridges, a voltage higher than a voltage applied to the terminals forthe storage devices may be supplied from the mounting detection circuit,each of the N printing material cartridges may further include aterminal for overvoltage detection provided in the vicinity of theterminal for the electric device, and the mounting detection circuit maystop supplying the high voltage to the electric device when anovervoltage is detected via the terminal for overvoltage detection.

In this configuration, when an unintended short circuit occurs due toforeign matter such as ink or dirt between the terminal for the electricdevice and the terminal for overvoltage detection, this can beimmediately detected using the overvoltage, so that it is possible toreduce a possibility of a high voltage for mounting detection beingapplied to another circuit and damaging the circuit due to theunintended short circuit.

In addition, the invention can be realized in various forms, and forexample, can be realized in the forms of a printing material cartridge,a printing material cartridge set including a plurality of kinds ofprinting material cartridges, a cartridge adapter, a cartridge adapterset including a plurality of kinds of cartridge adapters, a printingapparatus, and a mounting detection method of a printing materialcartridge, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a printingapparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing the configuration of anink cartridge related to the embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the configuration of a boardrelated to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configurations of theink cartridge and the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of acartridge detection circuit.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are explanatory views showing contents of an individualmounting detection process of the cartridges.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process order of a mounting detectionprocess.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed order of the individualmounting detection process.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of an individual mounting detection unitaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of an individual mounting detection unitaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of an individual mounting detection unitaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram of an individual mounting detection unitaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram of a cartridge detection circuit accordingto another embodiment.

FIGS. 14A to 14C are diagrams showing the configurations of boardsaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkcartridge according to another embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkcartridge according to another embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

A. Outer Appearance Configuration of Printing Apparatus and InkCartridge

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a printingapparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. The printingapparatus 1000 includes a sub-scanning feed mechanism, a main scanningfeed mechanism, and a head driving mechanism. The sub-scanning feedmechanism transports a printing sheet P in a sub-scanning directionusing a paper feed roller 10 using a paper feed motor (not shown) as adrive power. The main scanning feed mechanism reciprocates a carriage 3connected to a drive belt in a main scanning direction using a drivepower of a carriage motor 2. The head driving mechanism drives aprinting head 5 provided in the carriage 3 to perform ink discharge anddot formation. The printing apparatus 1000 further includes a maincontrol circuit 40 that controls the above-mentioned mechanisms. Themain control circuit 40 is connected to the carriage 3 via a flexiblecable 37.

The carriage 3 includes a holder 4, the printing head 5, and a carriagecircuit (described later). The holder 4 is configured so that aplurality of ink cartridges can be mounted therein, and is disposed atthe upper surface of the printing head 5. In the example shown in FIG.1, four ink cartridges can be independently mounted in the holder 4, andfor example, black, yellow, magenta, and cyan, that is, four kinds ofink cartridges are mounted, one for each color. In addition, in theholder 4, a plurality kinds of arbitrary ink cartridges may be mounted.A cover 11 is mounted to the holder 4 so as to be opened or closed. Atthe upper portion of the printing head 5, an ink supply needle 6 isdisposed for supplying ink to the printing head from the ink cartridge.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing the configuration of theink cartridge related to this embodiment. The ink cartridge 100 includesa housing 101 that accommodates ink and a board 200 (also called a“circuit board”). An ink chamber 120 that accommodates the ink is formedinside the housing 101. At the bottom surface of the housing 101, an inksupply opening 110 through which the ink supply needle 6 of the printingapparatus is inserted when the ink cartridge is mounted in the holder 4is formed. In a state before use, the opening of the ink supply opening110 is sealed by a film. In addition, in the ink cartridge 100 and thecarriage 3, a sensor mechanism for optically detecting an amount of inkremaining in the ink cartridge 100 is provided but illustration thereofis omitted here. Hereinafter, the ink cartridge is also simply called a“cartridge”.

FIG. 3A shows the configuration of the front surface of the board 200.The front surface of the board 200 is a surface exposed to the outsidewhen the board 200 is mounted to the cartridge 100. FIG. 3B is a diagramof the board 200 from a side view. At an upper end portion of the board200, a boss groove 201 for fixing is formed, and at a lower end portionof the board 200, a boss hole 202 is formed.

In FIG. 3A, the arrow Z represents an insertion direction of thecartridge 100 to the holder 4. The board 200 includes a storage device203 at the rear surface and includes a terminal group having 9 terminals210 to 290 at the front surface. The storage device 203 storesinformation regarding a remaining ink amount of the cartridge 100. Theterminals 210 to 290 are formed in substantially rectangular shapes andare disposed to form two rows substantially perpendicular to theinsertion direction Z. From the two rows, the row positioned on thelower side in the insertion direction Z, that is, in FIG. 3A, is calleda lower side row, and the row positioned on the opposite side in theinsertion direction Z, that is, on the upper side in FIG. 3A is calledan upper side row.

The terminals 210 to 240 forming the upper side row and the terminals250 to 290 forming the lower side row are arranged in the followingorder.

<Upper Side Row>

-   (1) First overvoltage detection terminal 210-   (2) Reset terminal 220-   (3) Clock terminal 230-   (4) Second overvoltage detection terminal 240    <Lower Side Row>-   (5) First mounting detection terminal 250-   (6) Power supply terminal 260-   (7) Ground terminal 270-   (8) Data terminal 280-   (9) Second mounting detection terminal 290

The terminals 210 to 290 include respective contact portions cp at thecenter portions, which are connected to corresponding terminals fromamong a plurality of apparatus-side terminals. The corresponding contactportions cp of the terminals 210 to 240 forming the upper side row andthe corresponding contact portions cp of the terminals 250 to 290forming the lower side row are alternately disposed to form a so-calledzigzag arrangement. In addition, the terminals 210 to 240 forming theupper side row and the terminals 250 and 290 forming the lower side roware alternately disposed and form the zigzag arrangement so that theterminal centers are not aligned with the insertion direction Z.

The first mounting detection terminal 250 is adjacent to two terminals(the power supply terminal 260 and the first overvoltage detectionterminal 210), and the first overvoltage detection terminal 210 thereofis in the vicinity of the first mounting detection terminal 250 and isdisposed particularly at the closest position to the first mountingdetection terminal 250. Similarly, the second mounting detectionterminal 290 is adjacent to two terminals (the second overvoltagedetection terminal 240 and the data terminal 280), and the secondovervoltage detection terminal 240 thereof is in the vicinity of thesecond mounting detection terminal 290 and is disposed particularly atthe closest position to the second mounting detection terminal 290.

With regard to a relationship between the contact portions cp, thecontact portion cp of the first mounting detection terminal 250 isadjacent to the contact portions cp of two terminals (the power supplyterminal 260 and the first overvoltage detection terminal 210).Similarly, the contact portion cp of the second mounting detectionterminal 290 is adjacent to the contact portions cp of two terminals(the second overvoltage detection terminal 240 and the data terminal280).

As can be seen from FIG. 3A, the first and second mounting detectionterminals 250 and 290 are disposed at both end portions of the lowerside row, that is, at the outermost positions of the lower side row. Inaddition, the lower side row has a large number of terminals than theupper side row, so that the length of the lower side row in thedirection substantially perpendicular to the insertion direction Z islower than that of the upper side row. Therefore, the first and secondmounting detection terminals 250 and 290 are disposed at the outermostpositions as viewed in the direction substantially perpendicular to theinsertion direction Z, from among the entire terminals 210 to 290including the upper side row and the lower side row.

In addition, the contact portions cp of the first and second mountingdetection terminals 250 and 290 are disposed at both end portions of thelower side row formed of the contact portions cp of the respectiveterminals, that is, at the outermost positions of the lower side row. Inaddition, the contact portions cp of the first and second mountingdetection terminals 250 and 290 are disposed at the outermost positionsas viewed in the direction substantially perpendicular to the insertiondirection Z, from among the contact portions cp of the entire terminals210 to 290 including the upper side row and the lower side row.

The first and second overvoltage detection terminals 210 and 240 aredisposed at both end portions of the upper side row, that is, at theoutermost positions of the upper side row. As a result, similarly, thecontact portions cp of the first and second overvoltage detectionterminals 210 and 240 are disposed at both end portions of the upperside row formed of the contact portions cp of the respective terminals,that is, at the outermost positions. Therefore, the terminals 220, 230,260, 270, and 280 for the storage device 203 are disposed so as to beinterposed between the first overvoltage detection terminal 210 and thefirst mounting detection terminal 250 which form a pair, and the secondovervoltage detection terminal 240 and the second mounting detectionterminal 290 which form a pair, from both sides.

B. Electrical Configuration of Printing Apparatus and Ink Cartridge

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configurations of theink cartridge 100 and the printing apparatus 1000. The printingapparatus 1000 includes a display panel 30, the main control circuit 40,and a carriage circuit 500. The display panel 30 is a display unit forgiving various notifications such as an operation state of the printingapparatus 1000 or a mounted state of the cartridge for users. The maincontrol circuit 40 includes a CPU 410, a memory 420, and a non-mountedstate detection unit 430. The memory 420 stores a threshold table TTstoring thresholds used when existence of mounting of the cartridge isdetermined. The CPU 410 determines the kind of the cartridge mounted inthe holder 4 using the threshold read from the threshold table TT (whichwill be described later). In addition, it is preferable that thethreshold table TT be stored in a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM.The carriage circuit 500 includes a memory control circuit 501 and acartridge detection circuit 502.

From among the nine terminals provided in the board 200 (FIG. 3A) of thecartridge 100, the reset terminal 220, the clock terminal 230, the powersupply terminal 260, the ground terminal 270, and the data terminal 280are electrically connected to the storage device 203. The storage device203 is, for example, a non-volatile memory which includes a memory cellarray (not shown) which is serially accessed and performs reading andwriting of data in synchronization with a clock signal SCK. The clockterminal 230 is electrically connected to a terminal 530 of the carriagecircuit 500 and is used for supplying the clock signal SCK to thestorage device 203 from the carriage circuit 500. To the power supplyterminal 260 and the ground terminal 270, a power supply voltage (forexample, 3.3V) and a ground voltage (0 V) are respectively supplied viaterminals 560 and 570 on the printing apparatus 1000 side. The dataterminal 280 is electrically connected to a terminal 580 of the carriagecircuit 500 and is used for exchanging a data signal SDA between thecarriage circuit 500 and the storage device 203. The reset terminal 220is electrically connected to a terminal 520 of the carriage circuit 500and is used for supplying a reset signal RST to the storage device 203from the carriage circuit 500.

The first and second overvoltage detection terminals 210 and 240 areconnected to each other with a wiring line in the board 200 (FIG. 3A) ofthe cartridge 100 and are electrically connected to the terminals 510and 540 of the carriage circuit 500, respectively. In addition, a statewhere two terminals are connected to each other with a wiring line iscalled a “short circuit connection” or a “conducting wire connection”.The short circuit connection by the wiring line is a different statefrom an unintended short circuit. The first and second mountingdetection terminals 250 and 290 are provided with a resistive element204 for mounting detection therebetween and are electrically connectedto terminals 550 and 590 of the carriage circuit 500, respectively.

The memory control circuit 501 is a circuit which performs reading andwriting of data by controlling the storage device 203 of the cartridge100. The memory control circuit 501 and the storage device 203 of thecartridge are low-voltage circuits operating at a relatively low voltage(in this embodiment, rating 3.3V).

The cartridge detection circuit 502 is a circuit for performing mountingdetection of the cartridge in the holder 4 by cooperating with the maincontrol circuit 40. In addition, the cartridge detection circuit 502 andthe main control circuit 40 are collectively called a “mountingdetection circuit”. The cartridge detection circuit 502 and theresistive element 204 of the cartridge are high-voltage circuitsoperating at a higher voltage (in this embodiment, rating 42V) than thatof the storage device 203.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of thecartridge detection circuit 502. Here, a state where four cartridges 100are mounted n the holder is shown, and reference numerals IC1 to IC4 areused for distinguishing the cartridges. The cartridge detection circuit502 includes a detection voltage control unit 610, an overvoltagedetection unit 620, and an individual mounting voltage value detectionunit 630.

The cartridge detection circuit 502 is provided with a high-voltagepower supply VHV for mounting detection. The high-voltage power supplyVHV is connected to the four apparatus-side terminals 550 provided atmounting positions of the respective cartridges IC1 to IC4 via atransistor 612 in parallel. In addition, the voltage value of thehigh-voltage power supply VHV is called a “high-voltage VHV”. On and OFFof the transistor 612 is controlled by the detection voltage controlunit 610. Each apparatus-side terminal 550 is connected to the firstmounting detection terminal 250 of the corresponding cartridge. In eachof the cartridges, the resistive element 204 is provided between thefirst and second mounting detection terminals 250 and 290. Here, in thefour cartridges IC1 to IC4, the resistance values of the resistiveelements 204 are set to be different from each other. Specifically, theresistance value of the resistive element 204 of the n-th (n=1 to 4)cartridge ICn is set to 2^(n)R (R is a constant value). The secondmounting detection terminals 290 of the four cartridges IC1 to IC4 areconnected to the individual mounting voltage value detection units 630via the corresponding apparatus-side terminals 590 in parallel. Inaddition, the apparatus-side terminals 590 are ground via a referenceresistor 634 provided in the cartridge detection circuit 502. Theresistance value R of the reference resistor 634 is set to a value of ½the resistance value 2R of the resistive element 204 in the cartridge.As can be understood by FIG. 5, the resistive elements 204 for mountingdetection of the four cartridges IC1 to IC4 are connected to thecartridge detection circuit 502 in parallel. The individual mountingvoltage value detection unit 620 is a circuit that detects a detectionvoltage V_(DET) determined depending on the mounting state of thecartridge. The detection voltage V_(DET) is also called an “individualmounting detection voltage” or simply a “mounting detection voltage”.The voltage of the detection voltage V_(DET) will be described later.

In each of the cartridges, the first and second overvoltage detectionterminals 210 and 240 are connected with a wiring line. The firstovervoltage detection terminal 210 of the first cartridge IC1 isconnected to a wiring line 651 in the cartridge detection circuit 502via the corresponding apparatus-side terminal 510, and the wiring line651 is connected to a low-voltage power supply VDD via a resistor 652.In addition, the wiring line 651 is connected to the non-mounted statedetection unit 430 (FIG. 4) in the main control circuit 40. The voltagevalue of the low-voltage power supply VDD is also called a “low voltageVDD”. The second overvoltage detection terminal 240 of the n-th(n=1 to3) cartridge and the first overvoltage detection terminal 210 of the(n+1)-th cartridge are connected to each other via the correspondingapparatus-side terminals 540 and 510. In addition, the secondovervoltage detection terminal 240 of the fourth cartridge IC4 isconnected to a ground potential via a resistor 654. When all thecartridges IC1 to IC4 are mounted in the holder, the voltage of thewiring line 651 connected to the non-mounted state detection unit 430becomes a predetermined voltage value obtained by dividing the powersource voltage VDD by the two resistors 652 and 654. On the other hand,when there is any non-mounted cartridge, the voltage of the wiring line651 becomes the power supply potential VDD. Therefore, the non-mountedstate detection unit 430 can determine whether or not a non-mountedcartridge exists by monitoring the voltage of the wiring line 651. Assuch, in this embodiment, when all the cartridges IC1 to IC4 are mountedin the holder, the overvoltage detection terminals 240 and 210 of thecartridges are sequentially connected in series, so that it is possibleto immediately determine whether or not one or more cartridges are notmounted by detecting the voltage of the wiring line 651 at theconnection destination.

Furthermore, the first overvoltage detection terminals 210 of the fourcartridges IC1 to IC4 are connected to the anode terminals of diodes 641to 644 via the corresponding apparatus-side terminals 510. In addition,the second overvoltage detection terminals 240 of the four cartridgesIC1 to IC4 are connected to the anode terminals of diodes 642 to 645 viathe corresponding apparatus-side terminals 540. The anode terminal ofthe second diode 642 is commonly connected to the second overvoltagedetection terminal 240 of the first cartridge IC1 and the firstovervoltage detection terminal 210 of the second cartridge IC2.Similarly, each of the diodes 643 and 644 is commonly connected to thesecond overvoltage detection terminal 240 of one cartridge and the firstovervoltage detection terminal 210 of the adjacent cartridge. Thecathode terminals of the diodes 641 to 645 are connected to theovervoltage detection unit 620 in parallel. The diodes 641 to 645 areused for monitoring whether or not an abnormally high voltage(specifically, a voltage that exceeds the voltage value of thelow-voltage power supply VDD) is applied to the overvoltage detectionterminals 210 and 240. Such an abnormal voltage value (called an“overvoltage”) is generated in a case where an unintended short circuitoccurs between any one of the overvoltage detection terminals 210 and240 and any one of the mounting detection terminals 250 and 290 in eachof the cartridges. For example, when ink droplets or dirt is attached tothe surface of the board 200 (FIG. 3A), there is a possibility of anunintended short circuit occurring between the first overvoltagedetection terminal 210 and the first mounting detection terminal 250 orbetween the second overvoltage detection terminal 240 and the secondmounting detection terminal 290. When such an unintended short circuitoccurs, current flows to the overvoltage detection unit 620 via any oneof the diodes 641 to 645, so that the overvoltage detection unit 620 candetermine existence of generation of an overvoltage or existence ofgeneration of an unintended short circuit. In addition, when anovervoltage is detected, a signal indicating generation of theovervoltage is supplied from the overvoltage detection unit 620 to thedetection voltage control unit 610, and accordingly, the transistor 612is set to OFF by the detection voltage control unit 610. This is forpreventing damage of the printing apparatus or the cartridge that mayoccur due to the overvoltage. In addition, the overvoltage detectionunit 620 can also be called a “short circuit detection unit”.

As described above, in this embodiment, the overvoltage detectionterminals 210 and 240 are used for both a process (mounting detection ofthe entire cartages) for detecting whether or not all the cartridges aremounted in the holder 4 and a process of detecting existence of anunintended short circuit between the overvoltage detection terminals 210and 240 and the mounting detection terminals 250 and 290. Here, one orboth of the two detecting processes may also be omitted. When neither ofthe two detecting processes using the overvoltage detection terminals210 and 240 is not performed, circuit elements such as the terminals210, 240, 510, and 540, the diodes 641 to 645, and the overvoltagedetection unit 620 may also be omitted.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are explanatory views showing contents of an individualmounting detection process of the cartridges performed by the individualmounting voltage value detection unit 630 and the CPU 410. FIG. 6A showsa state where the four cartridges IC1 to IC4 are all mounted. Theresistive elements 204 of the four cartridges are connected in parallelbetween a high-voltage power supply VHV and the individual mountingvoltage value detection unit 630. A detection voltage V_(DET) detectedby the individual mounting voltage value detection unit 630 is a valueobtained by dividing the high voltage VHV by a synthetic resistancevalue Rc of the resistive elements 204 and a resistance value R of thereference resistor 634. Here, when the number of cartridges is assumedto be N, in a case where the N cartridges are all mounted, the detectionvoltage V_(DET) is given by the following expression.

$\begin{matrix}{V_{DET} = {{VHV}\frac{R}{R + R_{c}}}} & (1) \\{R_{c} = {R\frac{1}{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{N}\frac{1}{2^{j}}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

In addition, when one or more cartridges are not mounted, accordingly,the synthetic resistance value Rc is increased, and the detectionvoltage V_(DET) is reduced.

FIG. 6B shows a relationship between the mounted states of thecartridges IC1 to IC4 and the detection voltages V_(DET). The horizontalaxis in the figure represents 16 kinds of mounted states, and thevertical axis represents the values of the detection voltages V_(DET) inthese mounted states. The 16 kinds of mounted states correspond to 16combinations obtained by arbitrarily selecting one to four from amongthe four cartridges IC1 to IC4. In addition, each individual combinationis also called a “subset”. The detection voltages V_(DET) become voltagevalues that can uniquely identify the 16 kinds of mounted states. Inother words, the resistance values of the resistive elements 204 of thefour cartridges IC1 to IC4 are set to give different syntheticresistance values Rc depending on the 16 kinds of mounted statesacquired by the four cartridges.

When the voltage of the high voltage VHV is 42V, if the four cartridgesIC1 to IC4 are all in the mounted states, the detection voltage V_(DET)becomes 20.3V. On the other hand, when only the cartridge IC4 having theresistive element 204 with the largest resistance value is in anon-mounted state, the detection voltage V_(DET) becomes 19.6V.Therefore, by inspecting whether or not the detection voltage V_(DET) isequal to or higher than a threshold voltage V_(thmax) set in advance asa value between such voltages, whether or not the four cartridges IC1 toIC4 are all mounted can be detected. In addition, the reason that thevoltage VHV higher than the power supply voltage (about 3.3V) of atypical logic circuit is used for individual mounting detection is towiden the dynamic range of the detection voltage V_(DET) and increasedetection precision.

The individual mounting voltage value detection unit 630 converts thedetection voltage V_(DET) into a digital signal S_(VDET) and transmitsthe detection voltage signal S_(VDET) to the CPU 410 (FIG. 4) of themain control circuit 40. The CPU 410 can determine one from among the 16kinds of the mounted states by sequentially comparing the value of thedetection voltage signal S_(VDET) to 15 thresholds stored in thethreshold table TT in advance. That is, the CPU 410 has a function as adetermination circuit that determines the mounted state from thedetection voltage value V_(DET).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process order of a mounting detectionprocess performed by the main control circuit 40 and the cartridgedetection circuit 502. The mounting detection process is started whenthe carriage 3 is stopped at a position for cartridge replacement(called a “cartridge replacement position”) and the cover 11 (FIG. 1) ofthe holder 4 is opened. The cartridge replacement position is set to thevicinity of one end side of the carriage 3 in the main scanningdirection (for example, the vicinity of the right end of FIG. 1) inadvance. In addition, at the cartridge replacement position, the storagedevice 203 of the cartridge is not in an electrically connected state (astate where the power supply voltage VDD is not supplied).

When the carriage 3 is stopped at the cartridge replacement position, inSteps S110 and S120, the non-mounted state detection unit 430 (FIG. 4)detects whether or not all the cartridges are mounted in the holder 4.When all the cartridges are mounted, the process proceeds to S140described later from Step S120. On the other hand, when one or morecartridges are not mounted, in Step S130, the main control circuit 40performs a predetermined non-mounting error process. The non-mountingerror process is, for example, a process for displaying a notificationsuch as “cartridge is not correctly mounted” (a notification that thereis a non-mounted cartridge) on the display panel 30. In Step S140, thedetection voltage control unit 610 (FIG. 5) of the cartridge detectioncircuit 502 switches the transistor 612 from OFF to ON, such that thehigh voltage VHV for mounting detection is applied to a device fordetecting mounting of the cartridge (specifically, the resistive element204). In Steps S150 and S160, the overvoltage detection unit 620 detectswhether or not an overvoltage (a voltage higher than the power supplyvoltage VDD) is generated. When an overvoltage is generated, in StepS200, the overvoltage detection unit 620 notifies the detection voltagecontrol unit 610 of the generation of the overvoltage and turns off thetransistor 612. In this case, the intent that the overvoltage isgenerated, an instruction to perform an operation of detaching thecartridge once and re-inserting, or the like may be displayed on thedisplay panel 30. On the other hand, when an overvoltage is notgenerated, the process proceeds to Step S170 from Step S160, and theindividual mounting detection process of the cartridge is performed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed order of the individualmounting detection process. In Step S210(1), the CPU 410 compares thevalue of the detection voltage signal S_(VDET) supplied from theindividual mounting voltage value detection unit 630 to the firstthreshold. The first threshold is a value set in advance to correspondto a voltage value between the detection voltage value V_(DET) in thecase where all the cartridges are not mounted and the detection voltagevalue V_(DET) in the case where the cartridge IC4 having the resistiveelement 204 with the highest resistance value is mounted. When thedetection voltage value V_(DET) is equal to or lower than the firstthreshold, all the cartridges are not mounted, so that the intent isdisplayed on the display panel 30 in Step S220 and the process is ended.Similarly, until Step S210(2^(N)−1), by comparing the thresholds set inadvance to the detection voltage value V_(DET), one is determined fromamong 2^(N) mounted states (mounted patterns) shown in the lower sectionof FIG. 6B, and the determination results (the kind of non-mountedcartridge) can be displayed on the display panel 30. In addition, inthis embodiment, since N=4, 15 thresholds are used.

In this manner, when the individual mounting detection process is ended,the process returns to Step S180 of FIG. 7 to determine whether or notthe cover 11 of the holder 4 is closed. When the cover 11 is not closed,the process returns to Step S110 from Step S180, and the process afterStep S110 described above is performed again. On the other hand, whenthe cover 11 is closed, in Step S190, the detection voltage control unit610 turns off the transistor 612 for mounting detection, and the processis completed.

As such, in this embodiment, since the non-mounted state of individualcartridges is displayed on the display panel 30 in the middle of thereplacement of the cartridge, so that the user can perform the cartridgereplacement while seeing the display. In particular, when a newcartridge is mounted in the holder 4 during the cartridge replacement,the intent that the cartridge is mounted is displayed on the displaypanel 30, so that a user who is unaccustomed to the cartridgereplacement operation can proceed to the next operation without anxiety.In addition, in this embodiment, the cartridge detachment and mountingdetection can be performed while the storage device 203 of the cartridgeis not in the electrically connected state, so that it is possible toprevent generation of a bit error that occurs due to so-called hotswapping of the storage device.

In addition, in this embodiment, in the case where an overvoltage isgenerated in the overvoltage detection terminals 250 and 290,application of the high voltage VHV for mounting detection isimmediately released, so that damage of the electrical circuit of theprinting apparatus or the cartridge due to the overvoltage can beprevented.

C. Allowable Error of Resistive Element for Mounting Detection ofCartridge

As described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the individual mountingdetection process of the cartridge uses the fact that the syntheticresistance values Rc are uniquely determined depending on 2^(N) kinds ofmounted states related to N cartridges and accordingly the detectionvoltages V_(DET) are uniquely determined. Hereinafter, the allowableerror of the resistance value of the resistive element 204 of thecartridge will be examined.

First, a case where the number N of cartridges is 4 is considered. Whenthe allowable error of the resistance value is assumed to be ε, theresistance values of the four resistive elements 204 (FIG. 6A) areallowed to respectively have values in ranges of (1±ε)2R, (1±ε)4R,(1±ε)8R, and (1±ε)16R. However, from among the 16 kinds of mountedstates of FIG. 6B, two states which have a smallest difference betweentheir synthetic resistance values Rc and therefore have highestdetection voltages V_(DET) are the state where all the cartridges IC1 toIC4 are mounted and the state where only the fourth cartridge IC4 is notmounted. Here, when it is assumed that the first synthetic resistancevalue of the state where all the cartridges IC1 to IC4 are mounted isR_(c1) and the second synthetic resistance value of the state where onlythe fourth cartridge IC4 is not mounted is R_(c2), R_(c1)<R_(c2) isformed. It is preferable that this relationship be formed even in thecase where the resistance values of the resistive elements 204 vary inthe ranges of the allowable errors ε. Here, the worst condition is acase where the first synthetic resistance value R_(c1) has its maximumvalue R_(c1max) and the second synthetic resistance value R_(c2) has itsminimum value R_(c2min). Here, it is preferable that R_(c1max)<R_(c2min)be formed, and when this is rewritten, the following expression isformed.

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{1}{R_{c\; 2\min}} < \frac{1}{R_{c\; 1\max}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

where R_(c1max) is the synthetic resistance value of the state where allthe cartridges are mounted, and R_(c2min) is the synthetic resistancevalue of the state where only the fourth cartridge is not mounted.

R_(c1max) and R_(c2min) of Expression 3 are given by the followingexpressions.

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{1}{R_{c\; 1\max}} = {\frac{1}{\left( {1 + ɛ} \right)R}\left\{ {\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{16}} \right\}}} & (4) \\{\frac{1}{R_{c\; 2\min}} = {\frac{1}{\left( {1 - ɛ} \right)R}\left\{ {\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8}} \right\}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

When Expression 3 is substituted by Expressions 4 and 5, Expression 6 isformed as follows, and this is transformed into Expression 7.

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{1}{\left( {1 - ɛ} \right)R}\left\{ {\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8}} \right\}} < {\frac{1}{\left( {1 + ɛ} \right)R}\left\{ {\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{16}} \right\}}} & (6) \\{\frac{2ɛ}{1 - ɛ} < {\frac{1}{16} \times \frac{8}{7}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

In Expression 7, since the error ε is sufficiently smaller than 1, thefollowing expression is formed assuming that (1−ε)=1, and the allowableerror ε of the resistance value becomes 3.6%.ε<0.036=3.6%  (8)

When the above consideration is generalized, when the number ofcartridges is N, the allowable error ε is given by the followingexpression.

$\begin{matrix}{ɛ < \frac{1}{4\left( {2^{N - 1} - 1} \right)}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

That is, when the allowable error ε satisfies Expression 9, thesynthetic resistance values Rc are always uniquely determined dependingon the mounted states of the N cartridges, and accordingly, it can beguaranteed that the detection voltages V_(DET) are uniquely determined.Here, it is preferable that the allowable error of the resistance valuein actual design be set to a value smaller than the value of the rightside of Expression 9. In addition, without the above-describedexamination, the allowable error of the resistance value of theresistive element 204 may be set to a sufficiently small value (forexample, a value equal to or lower than 1%).

D. Another Embodiment

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an individualmounting detection unit according to another embodiment. This circuit isdifferent from the circuit of FIG. 6A in only the resistance values ofthe reference resistors 634. That is, the resistance value of thereference resistor 634 is R in FIGS. 6A and 2R in FIG. 9. Similarly toFIG. 6B, the circuit of FIG. 9 also obtains characteristics in which thedetection voltages V_(DET) are uniquely determined depending on 2^(N)kinds of mounted states of N cartridges. As such, the resistance valueof the reference resistor 634 can be selected to have no relation to theresistance value of the resistive element 204 of the cartridge. Inaddition, the actual individual mounting detection unit includes adetermination circuit (for example, the CPU 410 of FIG. 4) thatdetermines the mounted state from the detection voltage value V_(DET);however, illustration thereof is omitted in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an individualmounting detection unit according to still another embodiment. Thiscircuit is different from the circuit of FIG. 6A in only the resistancevalues of the reference resistors 204. That is, in the circuit of FIG.10, the resistance values of the four cartridges IC1 to IC4 are 2R, 4R,10R, and 30R, respectively. Here, ratios of the resistance valuesbetween two cartridges are 2, 2.5, and 3 and thus have different values.In general, when a value of equal to or greater than 2 is employed asthe ratio of resistance values of two cartridges, a circuitconfiguration in which synthetic resistance values Rc are uniquelydetermined depending on 2^(N) kinds of mounted states of N cartridgescan be obtained. As understood from this example, the resistance valuesof the resistive elements 204 of the cartridges do not need to be2^(n)R, and may employ various values so as to uniquely determine thesynthetic resistance values Rc depending on the 2^(N) kinds of mountedstates of the N cartridges.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an individualmounting detection unit according to further another embodiment. Thiscircuit is a circuit for 8 cartridges IC1 to IC8. Four cartridges IC1 toIC4 and four different cartridges IC5 to IC8 form different individualmounting detection units, so that individual mounting voltage valuedetection units 630 a and 630 b are provided respectively. As such,individual mounting detection of all cartridges mounted in the printingapparatus does not need to be detected by a single individual mountingdetection unit, and the cartridges may be divided into a plurality ofgroups so that individual mounting detection is performed in each of thegroups. In addition, the number of cartridges included in each of thegroups may vary. When grouping of the cartridges is performed asdescribed above, the above-mentioned allowable error ε is notexcessively reduced even though the number of cartridges mounted in theprinting apparatus is increased, so that the individual mountingdetection units can be easily configured.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an individualmounting detection unit according to still further another embodiment.This circuit is configured by substituting the resistive element 204 ofthe cartridge in FIG. 6A with a constant-voltage source 206. Theconstant-voltage source 206 receives the high voltage VHV and outputs aconstant voltage V_(const). The constant voltage V_(const) is set to avalue higher than the threshold voltage V_(thmax) shown in FIG. 6B. Evenin this configuration, the CPU 410 (determination circuit) can determinethat the cartridges are mounted. In addition, in the configuration ofFIG. 12, individual mounting detection cannot be performed; however, theconfiguration can be used for special purposes (when a test or cleaningis desired in a single cartridge is mounted, when individual mountingdetection is not to be performed, and the like).

In addition, in FIG. 12, instead of the constant-voltage source 206, thesame resistive elements 204 having a resistance value of N×Rc which is Ntimes the synthetic resistance value Rc shown in FIG. 6A may be mountedin all the cartridges. In this configuration, when all the cartridgesare mounted, since the detection voltage V_(DET) becomes greater thanthe threshold voltage V_(thmax), it is possible to correctly determinethat there is no non-mounted cartridge when all the cartridges aremounted.

In addition, as electric devices connected to the mounting detectionterminals 250 and 290 (FIGS. 3A and 4) of the cartridges, as well as theresistive element 204 or the constant-voltage source 206, an arbitrarykind of electric device can be employed. However, it is preferable thatsuch an electric device be configured so that when N cartridges are allmounted in the holder 4, the detection voltage V_(DET) for individualmounting detection becomes equal to or greater than the thresholdvoltage V_(thmax) set in advance.

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of a cartridgedetection circuit according to another embodiment. In this circuit, theresistors 652 and 654 illustrated in the cartridge detection circuitshown in FIG. 5 are omitted, and instead of this, a detection pulsegeneration unit 650 is provided, and other configurations of the circuitare the same as those of FIG. 5. The detection pulse generation unit 650generates a rectangular detection pulse DP in Step S110 of FIG. 7. Thedetection pulse DP sequentially passes through the overvoltage detectionterminals 240 and 210 of all the ink cartridges and thereafter isreceived by the non-mounted state detection unit 430 (FIG. 4). Thenon-mounted state detection unit 430 can determine whether or not thecontact state of the terminal of the ink cartridge is in an insufficientcontact state (loose contact) due to a high voltage by analyzing thewaveform of the detection pulse DP. That is, the non-mounted statedetection unit 430 can detect not only whether or not all the cartridgesare mounted, but also whether or not in the insufficient contact states.When the contact states are insufficient, for example, a notificationthat urges re-mounting of the cartridges may be displayed on the displaypanel 30.

FIGS. 14A to 14C are diagrams showing the configurations of boardsaccording to still yet another embodiment. The boards 200 a to 200 c aredifferent from the board 200 shown in FIG. 3A only in the surface shapesof the terminals 210 to 290. Here, even in these boards 200 a to 200 c,the arrangement of the apparatus-side terminals and the contact portionscp corresponding to the respective terminals 210 to 290 is the same asthat of the board 200 of FIG. 3A. As such, the surface shapes of theindividual terminals can be subjected to various modifications as longas the arrangement of the contact portions cp is the same.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are perspective view showing the configuration of an inkcartridge according to another embodiment. The ink cartridge is dividedinto an ink containing portion 100B and an adaptor 100A.

The ink containing portion 100B includes a housing 101B that containsink and an ink supply opening 110. Inside the housing 101B, an inkchamber 120B that contains the ink is formed. The ink supply opening 110is formed at the bottom wall of the housing 101B. The ink supply opening110 communicates with the ink chamber 120B.

The adapter 100A includes a main body 101A and a board 200. Inside themain body 101A, a space 101AS that receives the ink containing portion100B is formed. At the upper portion of the main body 101A, an openingthrough the space 101AS is provided. In a state where the ink containingportion 100B is put into the space 101AS, the ink supply opening 110protrudes from the adapter 100A through the opening 101AH. In addition,a part of the side wall of the adapter 100A may be omitted.

As such, the ink cartridge can be divided into the ink containingportion 100B (also called a “printing material container”) and theadapter 100A. In this case, it is preferable that the circuit board 200be provided on the adapter 100A side.

E. Modified Example

In addition, the invention is not limited to the above-describedembodiments or embodiments, various modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example,modifications as follows can be made.

MODIFIED EXAMPLE 1

In the embodiment, the storage device 203 and the resistive element 204are mounted in the ink cartridge; however, a plurality of electricdevices mounted in the ink cartridge is not limited thereto, and one ormore arbitrary kinds of electric devices may be mounted in the inkcartridge. For example, as a sensor for ink amount detection, instead ofan optical sensor, an electric device (for example, a piezoelectricelement or a resistive element) may be provided in the ink cartridge. Inaddition, in this embodiment, both the storage device 203 and theresistive element 204 are provided in the board 200; however, theelectric devices of the cartridge can be disposed on a differentarbitrary member. For example, the storage device 203 may also bedisposed on the housing or the adapter of the cartridge, or a differentstructure separate from the cartridge.

MODIFIED EXAMPLE 2

In the embodiment, the resistor for mounting detection for detectingmounting of the individual cartridge is formed by the single resistiveelement 204 in the n-th cartridge; however, the resistance value of theresistor for mounting detection may be realized by a plurality ofresistive elements. In addition, such a single resistive element or aplurality of resistive elements may be provided on only one of thecartridge and the printing apparatus main body, or a plurality ofresistive elements that constitute the resistor for mounting detectionmay be divided to be disposed in both the cartridge and the printingapparatus main body.

MODIFIED EXAMPLE 3

Components which have no relation to particular purposes, operations andeffective from among various components described in the embodiment maybe omitted. For example, the storage device 203 in the cartridge is notused for individual mounting detection of the cartridge and thus may beomitted when the individual mounting detection of the cartridge is themain purpose.

MODIFIED EXAMPLE 4

In the embodiment, the invention is applied to the ink cartridge 100;however, the invention is not limited to the ink cartridge, and can alsobe applied to a different printing material, for example, a printingmaterial container which contains toner.

The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-197312,filed Sep. 3, 2010 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a holder inwhich a cartridge set is mounted, the cartridge set including N (N is aninteger equal to or greater than 2) printing material cartridges whichcan be independently mounted; and a mounting detection circuit fordetecting mounted states of the printing material cartridges in theholder, wherein each of the N printing material cartridges includes astorage device for storing information regarding a printing materialwhich is contained, an electric device for mounting detection which isconnected in parallel with the mounting detection circuit, a terminalfor the storage device, and a terminal for the electric device, and theelectric devices of the N printing material cartridges are configured sothat a detection voltage detected by the mounting detection circuitbecomes equal to or greater than a threshold voltage set in advance whenthe N printing material cartridges are all mounted in the holder;wherein the electric devices of the N printing material cartridges areconfigured so that the detection voltage has a voltage value capable ofuniquely identifying 2^(N) kinds of mounted states regarding the Nprinting material cartridges, and the mounting detection circuitdetermines the mounted states of the printing material cartridges in theholder on the basis of the detection voltage.
 2. The printing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the electric device of the n-th (n=1 to N)printing material cartridge from among the N printing materialcartridges is a resistive element having a resistance value in a rangeof 2^(n)R(1±ε) where R is a constant value and an allowable error ε is1/{4(2^(N−1)−1)}.
 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein, to the terminals for the electric devices of the N printingmaterial cartridges, a voltage higher than a voltage applied to theterminals for the storage devices is supplied from the mountingdetection circuit, each of the N printing material cartridges furtherincludes a terminal for overvoltage detection provided in the vicinityof the terminal for the electric device, and the mounting detectioncircuit stops supplying the high voltage to the electric device when anovervoltage is detected via the terminal for overvoltage detection.